So adventures this past week! Went to my first betta farm (visited polu's) Got 2 BEAUTIFUL fish, well... my fiance did xD A MASSIVE female and a very pretty PK for his father who underwent a major surgery yesterday. We got a betta for him as a get well type gift :)

I also got a few RCS from them... well... we got 5... one adult and 4 babies... and well... Shosta nommed 2 of the small ones :( lol I didn't really expect it but now his tummy's rather large so he's on a diet for a few days until he un-bloats *sigh*

It was rather comical watching Shosta zip around after the tiny shrimps... I would have tried to save them, but there was no chance of that, it happened rather quickly.

I'll probably try again, but with adult shrimp next time, or at least some good sized juvies. Also, buying a moss ball for the shrimpies tomorrow, they should like that

As it is Shosta did in fact poop... A LOT over night (had him in a small QT cup so he wouldn't pig out on the other shrimpies) and is no longer all bulgy around the belly. *insert sigh of relief here*

I'm getting ready to make my 3 hour drive home for the holidays, picked up my 2nd 2.5 gal and another heater which is currently undergoing the test run. I've got my supplies all ready except for the hand warmers I use as a heat source for my boys when traveling. *makes mental note to pick up a few tomorrow*

I did a little research tonight, and if I play my cards right, my banana lily might flower!! I'm so excited! I've never had a plant do this well for me. It seems to me that once the pads reach the surface (about 2 inches away now) they have the potential to start flowering! I know, I'm weird, I'm excited about my silly plants xD

OH! I also bought a moss ball today for my shrimpies to munch on, and I've been thinking about trying a shrimp only tank... I just don't know where to go with that yet lol

My eyes are starting to get blurry on me with sleep, so I'm trying to type this as quickly as possible so I can get to bed, but today's been a lazy day with the fiance and up next is laundry day, packing, and I have to pay my rent... oh well, soon I will get to see my family!

Sorry for the spazzy post, it's SUPER early in the morning and my sleep schedule is all sorts of messed up, mostly due to not having classes! YAY!

Shosta made the trip to my parent's house just fine and is swimming around, exploring his new temporary tank. I went out and bought a few live plants, some sand, and a terracotta pot for him to feel more at home with.

Behold!! Shosta's travel tank! lolol

But really, I wanted it to look nice for the 3 weeks or more that I'm going to be here, and when I go back "home" this tank will be converted to a new tank for my Christmas present that my fiance is getting me

Not much going on today. Shosta is enjoying his terracotta pot lol, I guess it's a new thing for him, being able to go into something, rather than hiding behind or underneath an object. I thought the live plants in his 5.5 would provide enough cover for him to be happy, but now I'm seriously debating the benefits of dropping a pot in there for him. I really like the look of it in the tank he's in right now.... it looks like a cat dumped over a potted plant... it seems very... serene... in an odd sort of way. What's another 3 dollars right?

He's built me a small nest too, I think it has something to do with this rain and cloudy weather, Shosta hasn't been much of a nester so far, though I've only had him since Thanksgiving... so that's what? 5 weeks now? actually, that's 5 weeks exactly lol

There's something wrong with one of my favorite video games I have installed on my computer... I'm currently trying to fix it, and have to wait for downloads, which is the main reason why I'm posting today, I'm bored xD

I found a few pictures of some HMPKs that I like on AB

Posting them here mostly because I want to keep track of them, I need to show them to the fiance so he knows more or less what I find attractive in a fish and what I want as my next boy. He's going to a farm to get my Christmas present. I currently have a copper/black dragon HMPK and want something to contrast with him, hence the white. The new boy is going to have a 2.5 npt all to himself, I can't afford another 5.5 right now, I'll get one for him once I can though.

I feel like PKs need more space... Shosta certainly likes to make use of swimming space... zipping around and showing off for me. I'm watching him right now. If someone is in the room with him, he just goes to town, dancing and flashing his fins, such a diva

I'm kind of running out of things to talk about so I guess I'll stop the novel now... and if anyone takes the time to read all of that, kudos to you, you get a cookie, of your choice ^^

Yeah, I figured sense Shosta is so dark, I'd go for a lighter color with my next boy, unfortunately I've become rather picky when it comes to the looks of my bettas... Shosta has spoiled me in a way lol

So now I'm hoping for a HMPK with really nice asymmetrical almost show-quality finnage... which is why we're getting our next boy from a breeder xD

So I think Shosta is neurotic... he glass surfs... even when he's in the 5.5... I think I may go get some fake plants for him tomorrow or something...
*le sigh*

Also... I think he's getting the cloudy eye issue again... good thing I brought the AQ salt with me... I'm going to do a WC tomorrow and see how he fares...

I think it may just be an issue he has with that eye... but we'll see, hopefully he can fight it off on his own, he's doing quite well right now his fins are all out, he flares just fine, and is still being his diva self... just being a worry wort betta mom

Shosta doesn't have cloudy eyes, it's just me being paranoid, the lighting I have right now makes it look like his eyes are cloudy, but I'm 99% positive that it's just the angle of the light. I've looked at him under a flash light over and over and his eyes look fine. I'm going to keep a close eye on him and his eyes and behavior, but I think he's going to be okay. I'll just be OCD over him for a few days until I'm certain that he's fine lol.

On the upside, I got some free Java moss today! I've never had a moss other than a moss ball before, so this should be interesting ^^

It's late again *sigh* I need to go to bed earlier but I always get distracted by something...

Anyway, had a bit of drama this week... found out I have 2 ppm of ammonia in my tap water I did a bit of research and found out it's because my city is using chloromines to purify the water. Needless to say I freaked out, I couldn't have my fish living in that. So I've switched over to using Ozarka natural spring water, I know it's not the best, but it does have minerals in it that the fish needs and of course I still use water conditioner and added a bit of extra stress coat to help with the transition. I figured it was a better and cheaper alternative to using tap water mixed with RO and with some added chemicals for the RO... or even using RO with chemicals... I'm not very good at science, or anything math related so I'm afraid that messing with something like that would be... well... worse that using the Ozarka.

I've been acclimating Shosta for oh... about 5 hours now or so, getting him slowly used to the lack of ammonia and much softer water (6.4!) Thankfully, I can get it in 2.5 gallon amounts for cheap, so I don't have to worry so much. I'll be keeping a very close eye on Shosta, but I've got some plants in there which should help with any water quality issues that may pop up, and I'll be checking the water back at college when I get back, though I seriously doubt it is as bad as the stuff here as my inverts are still alive and thriving. That and my plants probably have something to do with it. Lol.

So I'm just wasting time before I let Shosta loose back in his temp tank. Poor guy is such a trooper. He lived quite happily in that awful water for a full week! Probably not long enough to do too much damage... but still, I love the guy and I don't want anything to happen because of my carelessness.

Some funny stuff
On Christmas eve, I was getting dressed and ready for our usual Christmas Eve service at our church (which is a really big deal and the orchestra and choir works on the music for months before hand) and getting into my concert black in front of Shosta's tank because there is like NO space in my room... mostly because I'm messy and he flared at my dress! xD the black thing all over again lol.

He did it again to my mother (her pjs are black) and she got a kick out of it. He's also gotten into this habit of wagging his tail fin, like, he ripples it from the bottom up when he wants to hang out at the surface and will do it a few times before he gets into JUST the right position for sleeping... kind of like how a dog will circle around before it lays down.

Well... anyway my eyes are blurring and I need to let Shosta back into his domain, so I think I'm done for the night...er.... morning.